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“The Dirty Water Rule would put the Pennsylvania’s Rivers - and our drinking water - at risk of pollution. It defies common sense, sound science and the will of the Pennsylvanians,” Stephanie Wein, PennEnvironment

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

[Harrisburg, PA]. -- Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveils its plan to drastically roll back Clean Water Act protections from vast networks of streams and wetlands in Pennsylvania and across the country. Stephanie Wein, Clean Water Advocate for PennEnvironment, issued the following statement:

“The ‘Dirty Water Rule’ is the most extreme attack on clean water in recent memory. This outrageous proposal upends the core mission of the EPA: protecting human health and the environment.

“The health of the Delaware depends on the streams that feed it, and the wetlands that filter out pollution. By stripping federal protections from streams and wetlands, the Dirty Water Rule would put the Pennsylvania’s Rivers - and our drinking water - at risk of pollution. It defies common sense, sound science and the will of the Pennsylvanians,”

“The Dirty Water Rule being proposed to today would replace the 2015 Clean Water Rule, which restored federal protections to to 49,000 miles of Pennsylvania streams. These streams feed iconic waterways like the Susquehanna, Delaware and Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers, and help provide drinking water to 8 million Pennsylvanians. More than a thousand scientific studies and a million Americans – including over 50,000 Pennsylvanians – submitted official comments in support of protections for these waterways.

“As stewards of our environment, it is our moral obligation to protect our Pennsylvanians waters. For the sake of our ecosystem, our way of life, and even our own drinking water, we must stop EPA from opening our waterways to polluters.”

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PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center is dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public and decision-makers, and help the public make their voices heard in local, state and national debates over the quality of our environment and our lives. www.PennEnvironmentCenter.org.